HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

Printing of bills and explanatory notes
8.21 After the first reading of a bill an order is made for the bill and any
explanatory notes to be printed. By convention, Consolidated Fund Bills
and Appropriation Bills are not printed for the Lords, nor are provisional
order confirmation bills unless subsequently amended on consideration
on report. Other bills which are to be taken through the House urgently
are not printed if they have not been amended since the last Commons
print and if the timetable for their consideration by the Lords makes
printing impracticable.
8.22 A bill introduced in the Lords is endorsed with the name of the
member of the House who has introduced it. It is not the practice to add
other names. A bill brought from the Commons is not endorsed with the
name of the Lord taking charge of the bill.
Explanatory notes
8.23 For most government bills explanatory notes are produced by the
responsible Department at the time the bill is introduced. Such notes
cover the financial and manpower implications of the bill and any
regulatory aspects (though any regulatory appraisal is usually produced
separately). Notes must be neutral in tone and must not try to promote
the bill or the policy underlying it. 1 Explanatory notes are also produced
for Commons amendments to Lords bills. In some cases Departments
may prepare notes for private members’ bills, with the consent of the
Lord in charge of the bill, whose authority must be communicated to the
Public Bill Office before the notes can be printed. Notes may also be
produced by private members themselves: members should submit a
draft of any explanatory notes to the Public Bill Office before
introduction in order to ensure that these are in proper form.
European Convention on Human Rights
8.24 Under s.19 of the Human Rights Act 1998 the minister in charge
of a government bill must make a statement before second reading as to
whether in his view the provisions of the bill are compatible with the
European Convention on Human Rights, and publish the statement in
such manner as he considers appropriate. This requirement extends to
1 Procedure 2nd Rpt 1997–98.
125